Leonidas Polk was born in Raleigh, North Carolina on April 10, 1806. While at the University of North Carolina, he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. His roommate there was Albert Sidney Johnston, who remained his friend until Gen. Johnston died at the Battle of Shiloh.
Polk resigned his military commission after graduation from West Point to enter Theological Seminary at Alexandria, VA. He was ordained a deacon in the Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia in 1830. On May 6th of the same year, he married Frances Devereux, his childhood sweetheart. Their first child, Hamilton, was born in 1831.
In 1833, Leonidas Polk took his family to Maury County, TN to live at Ashwood Plantation, which had been given to him by his father. He and his family stayed with his brother, Lucius J. Polk, at Hamilton Place while Ashwood Hall on the plantation was being built.
While in Maury County, Leonidas Polk assumed charge of the Columbia parish and aided Bishop Otey in establishing the Columbia Institute for Women, which opened in 1834. (After Polk's death, his wife Frances taught at the Institute until she established her own school in Louisiana.)
While in Maury County, Leonidas and his brothers erected St. John's Episcopal Church, for which he gave land and was the leader in its development. St. John's still stands to this day and has become almost a religious shrine and shelters the remains of many people, private citizens and soldiers, important to the history of Maury County, Tennessee.
In 1841, Polk became Bishop of Louisiana, and he moved his family to a large sugar plantation in Leighton, LA, while he assumed his new ministry. It was during his tenure as Bishop of Louisiana that Bishop Polk built Trinty Episcopal Church in Cheneyville in 1853.
At the outbreak of the War Between the States, Bishop Polk joined the Confederate Army and soon rose to the rank of General. He served with great distinction and courage and was greatly revered by his men.
On June 14, 1864, General Polk was killed at Pine Mountain, Georgia. Funeral services were conducted in Atlanta, and his body was escorted to Augusta, Georgia, where he was buried at St. Paul's Church. In the mid 1900s, Polk's body was removed to New Orleans and re-interred in Christ Church Cathedral.
Today, history records the gallant and faithful service of Leonidas Polk to his country which earned him the nickname, "the Fighting Bishop."
Gen. Leonidas Polk's Headquarters State Historical Marker
Located on Burnt Hickory Rd. one mile west of Carnes Rd. in Cobb County, Ga.
(Text)
GEN. LEONIDAS POLK'S HEADQUARTERS
G.W. Hardage house; June 10-14, 1864
After withdrawing his corps from Lost Mtn. June 9, Polk's H'dq'rs. [Confed.] were at the John Kirk house 1 mi. W. on this rd. June 10, h'dq'rs. were moved to Hardage house.
Sun. June 12. The Bishop-General read the church service (Episcopal) for his staff, escort, and the Hardage family.
June 14. Polk rode with Johnston, Hardee & others to Pine Mtn. to inspect Bate's [Confed.] line at that advanced outpost. While there, Polk was killed by a Federal shell.
Burial:
Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral.
New Orleans, La.
Orleans Parish
Polk's Tomb
Time line of Events
- 1806 April 10 He is born in Raleigh, North Carolina.
- 1821 Attends the University of North Carolina.
- 1823 He earns an appointment to West Point and becomes a leader in the cadet corp.
- 1827 Graduates from West Point eighth in a class of 38. He is commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Artillery.
- 1827 December 1 He resigns his commission soon after graduation.
- 1831 Attends Virginia Theological Seminary and is ordained at 24 as an Episcopal minister.
As a minister in Louisiana and Mississippi in the 1830s he travels by boat, mail coach, horseback spreading the word of God.
- 1838 He is named missionary bishop of the Southwest and the next year he held the first religious service in Shreveport.
- 1841 He becomes the first Episcopal bishop of Louisiana
- 1842-1854 Operates Leighton Plantation near Thibodaux
- 1855 He is the rector of the Trinity Church in New Orleans from 1855 to 1860
- 1860 He resigns to devote more time to the founding of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee
- 1861 June 25 Appointed a Major General in the Confederate Army and assumes command of Department No. 2 at Columbus, Ky. He accepts his commission in the new army as his duty to God.
He has severed his relationship with the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States and discontinues prayers to the president of the U. S.
He will be known as the Battling Bishop.
- 1861 September 15 Reassigned as commander of the first Division of the Department.
- 1862April 6-7 Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee, commands the I Corps, Army of the Mississippi.
- 1862 September Leads a corp of the Army of Tennessee undert General Braxton Bragg.
- 1862 October 10 Promoted to Lieutenant General after being cited for gallantry at the Battle of Perryville Kentucky.
- 1863 October 23 Commander of the Army of Mississippi
- 1863 December 23 Commander of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi and East Louisiana
- 1864 June 14 Killed by Union artillery at Pine Mountain, Georgia.
- 1864 June 29 after funeral in atlanta , his body was escorted to Augusta and buried at St. Paul's church.
- 1945 May 2 his body was removed to New Orleans and re-interred in Christ Church cathedral.
Polk Monument on Pine Mountain, Ga
This obelisk is in memory of Lt. General Leonidas Polk. On the front in large letters is inscribed: "SOUTH". There is a battle flag below that and the date 1861-1865.
"He fell on this spot June 14, 1864. Gen. Leonidas Polk folded his arms across his breast as he stood gazing on the scenes below, turning himself around as if to take a farewell view. Thus standing a cannon shaft from the enemy�s gun crashed through his breast and opened a wide door, through which his spirit took its flight to join his comrades on the other shore. Surely the earth never opened her arms to allow the head of a braver man to rest upon her bosom. Surely the light never pushed the darkness back to make bright the road that leads to the Lamb. And surely the gates of heaven never opened wider to allow a more manly spirit to enter therein."
Erected by J.Gid and Mary J. Morris, 1902.
On the back it reads: "North". Under that it reads:" Veni, Vidi,Vici. "I Came, I Saw, I Conquered" , the boast of Julius Caesar. Under that was added " with Five to One."
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